Decriminalise kratom, make it an energy drink: doctor

[webfact]

Decriminalise kratom, make it an energy drink: doctor

By The Nation

 

 

BANGKOK: -- A leading traditional medicine practitioner has renewed calls for kratom to be removed from the list of banned narcotics and said it could be used to make energy drinks.
 

Dr Supaporn Pitiporn, head of the herb product development project at Chaopraya Abhaiphubejhr Hospital, said the benefits of kratom outweigh its drawbacks.

 

Supaporn made the recommendation in an article she wrote that was posted online on Tuesday.

 

Last week, Narcotics Control Board secretary general Sirinya Sittichai said the Narcotic Crops Survey and Monitoring Institute is studying how many kratom tree families should be allowed to grow.

 

He said the institute was assigned to conduct the study after the Public Health Ministry recommended that Thais should be able to grow kratom for personal use in line with their culture.

 

Supaporn said there is evidence kratom has been used as a herb by Thais since ancient times.

 

She said the old folklore of Khun Chang, Khun Phaen, written during the reign of King Rama II, also talked about kratom use.

 

The literature recounted how chewing kratom re-energised troops before battles.

 

Supaporn said people in the three southern-most provinces used to use kratom to help them work longer.

 

She added that people used to chew kratom when they had a fever, or to help them sleep.

 

Supaporn said medical records before 1957 reveal that kratom was used as a traditional medicine for curing a number of ailments, including diarrhea, headaches, stomach aches and muscle pain.

 

“I think it’s time to make use of kratom as a herb for Thai traditional medicine practice. Traditionally, kratom was used as painkiller, energiser, a drug to reduce sugar in the blood for diabetes, for making one to feel sleepy and making one feel awake. It can be used to increase men’s sex drive. It has been part of our culture,” she said in her article.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30324548

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-22

[tomacht8]

To decriminalise all class 5 drugs would be good.

[nev]

The big Pharma's won't be happy if they do.

[Morakot]

Criminalisation of kratom biggest joke ever...

 

If at the time coffee had interfered with the opium trade, we would have ended up with coffee plants being illegal.

 

Now some policy makers faffing about how many trees is the limit for not pursuing a criminal law action is merely another version of this sad but true running joke.

 

 

Edited August 22, 2017 by Morakot

[edwinchester]

I wonder what the Red Bull position will be on a kratom energy drink?

[nahkit]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

making one to feel sleepy and making one feel awake

Truly a wonder plant.

[Morakot]

^^ High dosage is sedative; low dosage is stimulating.

[bberrythailand]

Never tried this one, is it good ? Can we smoke it ? :-)

 

 

[connda]

7 hours ago, nev said:

The big Pharma's won't be happy if they do.

Nor the 'energy drink' manufacturers, well, until they had time to retool.  The first ship to sail the Kratom Energy Drink product will have the market share.  

[dinsdale]

This sort of forward thinking is way, way above the ultra conservative thinking at the the top. There also is evidence that it's beneficial for the treatment of depression. There is also growing evidence that e-cigs are helping people stop smoking and are less dangerous than cigs. Indeed there's stacks of evidence that says legal drugs are more deleterious to society. Unfortunately conservative/religious doctrine is on the march internationally and backward thinking rather than forward thinking is dominating. 

[Morakot]

4 hours ago, bberrythailand said:

Can we smoke it ? :-)

 

 

Leaves can be smoked, but as with inhaling any fumes, it will damage your lungs, throat, etc.

 

Making a tea-like infusion is more common, especially if used as a remedy for ailments.  When used as a mild stimulant leaves are often chewed, but this can lead to tooth discolouration or even dental caries in the long run.

 

 

[Kieran00001]

It would be only "energy" drink on the market that the more you drink the more sedated you become.

[tandor]

15 hours ago, edwinchester said:

I wonder what the Red Bull position will be on a kratom energy drink?

...ah!..so that's why he's so busy overseas..researching markets for this new drink.

[Lunchbob]

17 hours ago, tomacht8 said:

To decriminalise all class 5 drugs would be good.

Agreed. It would also energize their economy. Less rice and sugarcane crops and more...

[nahkit]

19 hours ago, Morakot said:

^^ High dosage is sedative; low dosage is stimulating.

I think that might be considered an overdose.

[Morakot]

1 hour ago, nahkit said:

I think that might be considered an overdose.

Possibly.... but think about making a cup of English tea and not 4x100 concoctions.

 

For black tea, 2-3 mins brewing might pick you up; whereas 5-6 mins might calm you down.

 

 

Edited August 23, 2017 by Morakot

[IAMHERE]

On 8/22/2017 at 1:39 PM, nev said:

The big Pharma's won't be happy if they do.

Red Bull and such won't be happy either.

[lemonjelly]

The kid's around this neck of the woods boil it up with mosquito coils, the powder from fluorescent lights, cough medicine and now the new ingredient.... yellow road paint flakes scraped off the roads..... I kid you not!!


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Kieran00001]

13 minutes ago, lemonjelly said:

The kid's around this neck of the woods boil it up with mosquito coils, the powder from fluorescent lights, cough medicine and now the new ingredient.... yellow road paint flakes scraped off the roads..... I kid you not!!


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

 

Interesting, I don't know about mosquito coils but the cough medicine presumably contains codeine and combined with the powder from lights, which is phosphorus, and they could be creating a very crude form of morphine, or perhaps thats just what they think they will achieve by putting those ingredients together and really they are just making a toxic soup, if that don't kill them then they won't live long eating yellow road paint anyway, it is one of the only paints left that is lead based!  The things kids do to get out of their mind!

[riceyummm]

On 8/22/2017 at 3:57 AM, bberrythailand said:

Never tried this one, is it good ? Can we smoke it ? :-)

 

 

Yes but it's not practical.

 

 

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&q=smoke+kratom+leaf&oq=smoke+kratom&gs_l=psy-ab.1.2.0l4.2273.17432.0.23618.13.12.0.0.0.0.142.1119.10j2.12.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..1.12.1111.0..0i131k1j0i10k1.8UZKVLhpSPs

[sandemara]

Many of the traditional herbal therapy arguments evoked in the press release above could apply equally in support of a less oppressive regulation of marijuana in Thailand.

However, common sense and politics aren't a happy mix.